


Fish and fruit, or meet and greet

by RembrandtsWife



Series: Short visits to Wakanda [3]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: African Disney Princess Shuri, Bucky's Wakandan Hair Looks, Food, Gen, Wakanda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 15:38:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13767222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RembrandtsWife/pseuds/RembrandtsWife
Summary: Peter meets an unexpected guest at a reception for foreign students in Wakanda.





	Fish and fruit, or meet and greet

"You should try this," said a vaguely familiar voice over Peter's shoulder. A guy's hand--a white guy's hand--pointed past him to a platter that had what looked like maybe dried fish on it, with some kind of... baby food around it. "Dried fish and mashed-up fruit, you wouldn't think it would work, but trust me, it does."

Peter turned around and was face to neck with-- "The Winter Soldier! I mean, Sgt. Barnes! I mean--"

"Just call me Bucky." The flicker of a smile across Bucky Barnes' face made Peter start vibrating (and also made him think, wow, those old history textbooks were right, Barnes was a good-looking dude).

"Okay, sir. I mean, Bucky. I mean, wow, you look great!"

That earned him a slower, wider smile. Peter hoped his face wasn't as red as it felt and wondered if he could be bisexual and hadn't noticed it yet. Barnes did look great, compared to the first (and last) time Peter had laid eyes on him. His hair was longer, done up in a bun with tiny braids looping out of it. He was wearing a bright-colored loose shirt and pants, Wakandan-type clothes. A kind of shawl wrapped around his shoulders and chest covered up--

"What happened to your arm? Oh, my bad, not my business, sorry--"

Bucky clapped Peter on the shoulder, briefly. "I know who you are, the skinny spider kid from Queens, but what's your name?"

"Peter. Peter Parker." On reflex Peter offered his hand and Bucky shook it. Aunt May would be proud of him.

"Nice to meet you, Peter. Welcome to Wakanda, where the future is now and the fish and fruit combo is fantastic. Don't forget to grab some bread."

"Bucky!" Another familiar voice carried over the crowd, and Shuri, Crown Princess of Wakanda (if they called it that? anyway she was T'Challa's baby sister) edged her way between two very tall Wakandan men to tug on Sgt. Barnes' cape. "Are you frightening Peter?"

"Frightening him? I'm tryna make nice." Barnes really did sound like he was from Brooklyn. At the moment, Shuri looked a lot scarier. Peter had been Skyping with her for a couple of months, but this was an official reception for foreign guests to Wakanda and she was dressed, well, like an actual princess, a Disney princess, maybe, with a tiara and a gown, but an African Disney princess. Her gown was made of nubbly black and purple stuff woven in an almost-plaid pattern, and her tiara was her own hair, braided up with beads and shells and shiny ribbons.

"I've been telling him to try the izentlanzi, but I think he's too excited to eat." Bucky snagged a little white ball of something off the refreshments table and popped it in his mouth. "That must be why he's so skinny."

"Sgt. Barnes is picking on me," Peter said to Shuri.

Shuri laughed and patted his cheek. "Oh, look, he is making the puppy-dog eyes." She turned to the table and assembled bread, fish, and fruit on a plate, which she handed to Peter. "Eat," she said, in a tone that made Peter's hand pick up food and carry it to his mouth without making a conscious decision. "Food now, music and dancing later, and talking tomorrow. That's how we do things in Wakanda."

She nodded at him and then Barnes, who nodded to her and then Peter.

"Say, this stuff really is good." Peter's plate was empty already. "I think I'm gonna like it here."

**Author's Note:**

> I invented a word for the fruit-and-fish dish by looking up the Xhosa words for "fish" and "fruit" and then running them together. Thank you, Google Translate.
> 
> I'm rembrandtswife on Tumblr, and in my next installment, Shuri and Peter take over the world.


End file.
